


Wounded and Wishing to Fall

by butyoumight



Category: Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
Genre: Gen, Pre-Series, slight hurt/comfort themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-25
Updated: 2011-10-25
Packaged: 2017-10-24 23:00:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/268848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butyoumight/pseuds/butyoumight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pre-Series. Joe's first night aboard the GokaiGalleon, and Marvelous already knows the most important things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wounded and Wishing to Fall

By the time a generally accepted Galactic night had fallen (generally accepted because it was of course technically always night in space), Marvelous knew a few things about his new comrade and crew mate.

He knew that his name was Joe Gibken, and that he had recently been promoted to a pretty impressive rank in the Zangyack Navy despite his young age, before of course irreversibly screwing up his one chance at being at the top of the Galaxy with the rest of the oppressors. He knew that Joe had been born on a rocky desert planet Marvelous hadn't even heard of, but that Joe told him was completely colonized by Zangyack. He knew that Joe hadn't ever had a good strong drink before this very evening and that his tongue wasn't sure how to mind itself under the influence of rum. He knew that Joe fought like he was demon possessed, and that he was haunted by any number of ghosts that he must still see, because Marvelous kept catching their reflections in Joe's eyes, beneath the smoldering coals that refused to die, that sputtering fire that had first drawn the fresh Captain in.

He knew some things, and every new tiny tidbit of information did absolutely nothing to satisfy his hunger and thirst to know more about this quiet, enigmatic soldier. His first mate and new best friend, Marvelous knew that even if Joe didn't yet.

Marvelous knocked on the door of the bathing room, cautious with his concern. Joe had seemed so surprised at the thought of having regular bathing available to him now, and his reaction when Marvelous insisted it was indeed a bath, and not just a shower, and that yes, he could take as many baths as he wanted, well. His little shocked smile and wide eyes and the confused but hopeful twist of his eyebrows had bordered on downright adorable. But still, that had been almost a standard hour ago that Marvelous had directed him, dirty and weary, to the bathing room and told him to take genuine care of himself. Told him he had all the time in the universe now for recovery, but still. An hour in the bath was a little much, and he hadn't even refreshed the water, because Marvelous would have heard it from his quarters if he had.

"Joe?" He called cautiously through the door, knocking again. Still no response, and Marvelous is quite sure he's never been anything approaching shy or cautious or anything but completely open and forward. And Joe, still with his military mentality, hadn't had the presence of mind to lock the door.

The tub was full, the water had that slightly murky pinkish cast of soaked wounds, and Joe...

Joe was asleep. Completely out, a red terrycloth drifting in one hand and his head lolling on his shoulder, so close to the surface of the water that it rippled with his every slow and steady breath. He hadn't even managed to get so far as to remove the ribbon holding his hair back, but the careful lines of his parts were muddied somewhat, as he'd obviously pushed wet hands through his fringe once or twice, leaving his loose hair a stand-up stick-out mess. His ponytail trailed down his chest to curl over where Marvelous assumed his heart must be, provided he was as human as he appeared.

Marvelous learned now that Joe must have an incredible tolerance for pain, as his body was covered in wounds that Marvelous hadn't known were there, hadn't affected Joe's presence or poise as they ate, drank and most importantly spoke earlier in the night. There was the electric burn at his throat, that Marvelous knew about, shining red and liable to scar. But that was only the tip of the iceberg. There were cuts everywhere, on his arms, legs and chest, everywhere his armored uniform (now in a haphazard pile next to the tub) had left him even slightly vulnerable to blades. And everywhere that wasn't sliced up was deeply marked with nearly black bruises.

Worst of all, even with his eyes shut, impossibly long lashes fluttering against the bruise-colored crescents beneath them, Marvelous noticed a hint of blood flushing at the corners and across the lids. Somehow he knew that Joe had been crying before he'd drifted into a hopefully dreamless and restorative sleep, free and hidden from the spirits that obviously brought him tears.

Marvelous sighed softly to himself. Even he, whose voracious appetite extended so far beyond the simple necessities of food and drink into the realm of more carnal pleasures, couldn't even let himself appreciate the impressive form of Joe's naked body, not even the undoubtedly impressive endowment between his legs. He couldn't, right now, with Joe in this state, because Joe, who honestly couldn't be _that_ much younger than Marvelous himself, certainly now looked the part. Young and maybe with a weakness that leeched out through his pores when the fire in his eyes that had kept it previously at bay had finally been extinguished, either by tears or exhaustion, or more likely both.

Marvelous pulled the plug from the tub and gently fished the terrycloth out of Joe's hand, wringing it out and hanging it over the edge of the tub. Then he retrieved his largest, softest towel (red, as was almost everything on the ship) and once the tub was empty, Marvelous draped the towel around Joe's wiry frame, and he gathered his first mate (and Marvelous can't think of him in any other terms right now, not now that he's finally figured out what this respect and filled void means) into his arms.

Joe felt light in Marvelous' arms, very light and fragile. Not that most average things didn't feel light to Marvelous, but there was a certain painful emptiness to Joe's sleeping form, and when Joe's head rolled against Marvelous' shoulder until his breath and small sleeping sounds tickled across Marvelous' neck, Marvelous vowed, right aloud since Joe was so obviously not going to be roused, he vowed that he would do whatever it took to fill Joe back up and make him complete again.

The first mate's quarters hadn't ever been touched. Neither he nor Basco had been blessed nor cursed with such a distinguished title. They'd shared the curiously largest of the crew quarters, only questioning the pink blanket over the bed once, because AkaRed had refused to give them a satisfactory explanation.

Marvelous kicked the door nearest the Captain's quarters open, and it responded to him as did the entire ship, and not for the first time did he feel that this beautiful inheritance must be at least partially sentient.

The room beyond was as plain as any of the crew quarters, smaller maybe than the pink room but only just barely. It hadn't been yet lived in, it had no emotion or character of its own, excepting the almost blindingly bright blue blanket spread over the bed. Marvelous smiled at this, because he had known somehow that a bit of color would bring out the person Joe needed to be, the person that Zangyack and bullied and beaten down, trained and regimented into near oblivion. And what better color than blue, what better compliment to his own fire and blood gut attraction to any and everything red? He had known from the start, and now he realizes that the flame he had seen flickering in Joe's eyes, drawing him in like a moth, the flames had been blue in their incredible heat and intensity. And yet still, blue like languid water, something Marvelous thinks he might need to temper his own inferno and keep him focused.

Marvelous settled Joe on the bed and gently dried him off as much as he dared, careful not to be too rash or too rushed, infinitely careful not to wake his sleeping companion. He smoothed Joe's hair back down, and he squeezed the length of Joe's ponytail in the towel to get as much of the water out as he could. It wasn't particularly cold on the ship, but Marvelous was no medic or doctor or xenobiologist, he didn't know where Joe was from or what resistances or weaknesses his immune system might hold. It wouldn't do for him to wake up with a cold or a cough.

Marvelous draped the towel around his own shoulders when he was done, and then carefully wrapped the edges of the blue blanket around Joe, tucking him in with as much care as a parent might a child just back to sleep after a night terror.

And then he retreated, leaving the door open a slight crack, so Joe wouldn't panic or assume himself locked in when he woke. He returned to the bathing room to gather Joe's discarded uniform. As little as he wanted to see Joe dressed back in the dreary black and gray of the Empire, Marvelous knew none of his clothes were going to fit comfortably on Joe's body, and besides, he was going to need some calmer colors, some smooth soft blues. And in the meantime, Joe deserved at least to have his one drab outfit clean.

When Marvelous finally settled down with a pipe before succumbing to sleep himself, he felt so curiously calm. Though he wasn't sharing a room with his new friend, he could still feel somehow the presence of another living breathing being on the ship, a warmth that had been sorely missed since the betrayal. He drifted off to sleep, truly happy for the first time in what felt like too long of a time.

And he knew, beyond a shadow of any doubt, that if anyone in the entire constantly expanding universe was going to be able to help him find the Greatest Treasure and do the memory of his promise to AkaRed proud, that person was sleeping in his first mate's quarters, maybe for the first time in _his_ life where he truly belonged.


End file.
